The present invention generally relates to apparatus for extracting juice from fruit, and more particularly, to an improved low-cost strainer tube for use in juice extractors.
The complete commercial processing of citrus fruit to obtain juice therefrom today includes the dejuicing and discharging of the pulp and internal membranes of the fruit, the breaking up and ejecting of the peel, the extracting and collecting of the peeled oil, and the separate extracting and collecting of the fruit juice.
In a typical extractor a whole unpeeled citrus fruit is placed between two cups, each of which is formed by a plurality of circumferentially spaced fingers and one of which is provided with a passage to allow discharge of juice and pulp from the fruit. The fingers of the upper and lower cup are arranged in an interdigitating relationship so that as cups are brought together, the cavity between the cups is progressively reduced to squeeze juice from fruit within the cavity. The peel of the fruit is shredded and ejected through an annular opening adjacent to the upper central portion of the upper cup. The juice-bearing material of the fruit is forced downwardly through the passage in the lower cup and into a perforated strainer tube which communicates with the lower cup. As the fruit is squeezed between the cups, an orifice tube is forced upwardly within the strainer tube to exert pressure on the juice-bearing material within the strainer tube to express the raw juice through the perforations therein. The raw juice expressed through the strainer tube is collected within a sump or manifold which extends transversely of the machine through the lower cup assemblies.
The movement of the orifice tube within the strainer tube and squeezing of juice through the perforations cause wearing of the strainer tube which is expensive to replace both because of the cost of the manufacturing of the tube and of the time required in replacing the tube.